catalog text
FREDERICK STONE BATCHELLER (AMERICAN, 1837-1889) | SQUIRREL IN WOODED HOLLOW
Signed lower right "Batcheller", oil on wood panel
Item # 808YYP29P
Frederick Batcheller started his career as a sculptor, having apprenticed as a young man under the Tingley Brothers in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. He transitioned to painting and eventually turned all of his attentions to this pursuit in 1855, joining the Providence artists James Morgan Lewin, John Arnold, Thomas Robinson, and Marcus Waterman as the “Group of 1855”. His primary focus was on still-life paintings with a heavy emphasis on floral arrangements and inanimate objects; however, his paintings of the natural world and its wildlife inhabitants are particularly moving. The present work is an excellent example of this, where the small squirrel is the focal point of the work, dwarfed by its surroundings and the powerful aged trees. The richness of color and chaotic heavy impasto bring a new perspective to this wooded paradise, this small creature’s home. And the curved sillouette of the leftmost tree against the swirling canopy of leaves overhead creates an illusion of looking through a round port into this magical space.
Measurements: 28 5/8” W x 2 1/2” D x 24 5/8” H [frame]; 22 1/4” W x 18 3/8” H [panel]
Condition Report:
Old giltwood frame with some losses and regilding. Painting surface cleaned in the last decade or so, remaining in exquisite presentation-ready condition.